Al Dating Bots: How Grey! How Shady!

Love may or may not be blind, but it looks like it needs to be blind, deaf and dumb - if it's happening in the world of AI. In a very intriguing, fascinating, and no-corners-left study conducted by Mozilla Foundation's team, a lot of jaw-droppers about romancing with AI surfaced. Like-90% of these apps and bots failed to meet some Minimum-Security Standards.

- Pratima H

It also spotted that- Romantic AI chat-bots will end up collecting sensitive personal information about you. Plus- They can harm human feelings and behavior. It's not surprising to also unravel then- These companies take no responsibility for what the chatbot might say or what might happen to you as a result. Many more disturbing insights emerged here. LikeThere is a gross lack of transparency and accountability and a lot of recklessness on user safety. Like- Most companies say they can share your information with the government or law enforcement without requiring a court order. Or that- these apps had an average of 2,663 trackers per minute. There were even themes of violence or underage abuse - featured in the chatbot's character descriptions- as observed in the findings. From Mimico to Crushon, to Chai to Replika - a lot of AI bots and apps were put under the lens here.

We tried to interpret some of these red flags in an interview with Mozilla's 'Privacy Not Included' Team. Turns out, AI bots is the last match that Seema Aunty would suggest. 'Swipe right' here to know why it may help to 'Swipe left' to a bot.

What were the top two or three red flags that emerged in this research - What are the primary concerns individuals should focus on when evaluating dating tools, especially regarding privacy and vulnerability and how might these concerns differ for various demographics such as women, older adults, and those with extensive social networks or robust mental health?